AUGUST BIRDS IN CAPE BRETON. 103 



think of most in studying tliem ; but after all, 

 their points of similarity, especially when these 

 points hint strongly at the identity of the origin 

 of species, are quite as instructive, and worthy 

 of serious thought. 



Leaving the three-toed inquisitors, I walked 

 on through the woods skirting Indian Brook, 

 and within quarter of a mile flushed a woodcock 

 and several ruffed grouse. Of the latter I saw 

 a dozen or more during my rambles near Bad- 

 deck and Ingonish, but of spruce partridges I 

 failed to secure even a glimpse, although all the 

 local sportsmen declared them to be abundant, 

 and as tame as barnyard fowls. At the point 

 where the highway between Englishtown and 

 Cape Smoky crosses Indian Brook there is a 

 long and very deep pool. As I emerged from 

 the woods above this pool, I saw three red- 

 breasted mergansers swimming slowly across it, 

 A prettier spot for them to have chosen for their 

 morning fishing could not have been found on 

 the Cape Breton coast. High ledges overhang- 

 ing dark water, and overhung in turn by spruce 

 and fir forest, formed a beautiful setting for the 

 still pool across which they swam in single file, 

 with their keen eyes w^atching me suspiciously. 

 Many are the young salmon and sjjeckled trout 

 they cut with their ragged jaws. 



Had my visit to northern Cape Breton fallen 



